Month: March 2017

Since we had smoked salmon on hand, we put it on an artisan flatbread that we also had left over. We toasted the flatbread, then smeared with labne, sprinkled with capers and shallots and spread with smoked salmon. Delicious.

The artisan flatbread works out at $1.00 per serve

Salmon was $5.99 or $3.00 a serve

Add 25c for labne, shallot and capers.

Lunch today was generous and delicious for $4.25 per serve.

Dinner

Foodie Greg had the idea of converting the puttanesca pasta into a warm salad as a side for ‘Thursday night steak night.’ Tonight’s steak was a rib eye from our Prather Ranch delivery.

The salad worked well, although we were a little heavy handed with the anchovies, so it was a little salty by itself, but with the unseasoned steak, it balanced nicely. The baby ravioli, from Trader Joes, were pretty boring.

The steak was $20.47 or $10.24 per serve

The ravioli with cheese was $2.99 and we used half, or 75c per serve

Anchovies are $1.59 a can or 80c per serve

The organic baby plum tomatoes were $2.79 for the pack, and we used the second half, or 70c per serve.

Add 20c for garlic, oil and seasoning.

Tonights steak was – as always – extremely tender, which is why we eat it blue: uncooked inside, with a good crust seared on the outside. The pasta salad was flavorsome, and a good match for the steak. All in tonight’s meal cost $12.69 per serve.

The roast chicken is $6.99 for the bird, but we used one breast, or 88c per serve

We served 1/4 of the tabouli salad or 67c per serve

Hummus is $3.99 per container and we used about 1/6 or 33c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.38 per serve.

Dinner

A simple meal: the legs and thighs from the roast chicken, with a rice pilaf featuring red lentils.

The pilaf was nowhere near as good as the simple pilaf of a couple of nights ago because the red lentils made it go gloopy. I’m pleased the picture didn’t turn out (because there was no card in the camera.)

Philip was in Burbank – as is common on a Monday – and had his usual Double Double at In and Out, while Greg had a serve of the fish pie.

The fish pie is $4.47 a serve, while the Double Double is $4.08 or an average of $4.27 per serve.

Dinner

A new recipe for us, Gnocchi with mushrooms & blue cheese, we made half the recipe, with blue Castello as the cheese of choice. We also added a little pasta water to help the cheese become a sauce, even though it’s not in the recipe.

The gnocchi was $1.69 or 85c per serve

The blue Castello was $5.09 but we used just under half, or 96c per serve

Sliced crimini mushrooms were $2.29 or $1.15 per serve

Add 30c for butter, mushrooms and spices.

Tonight’s meal was not as cheesy as we thought it would be. The overall verdict was “good, but not great”for $3.26 per serve

Another perfect day, another BLT, but this time on a par baked rustic roll.

Par-baked roll is 63c

The bacon was $6.99 for 12 slices, and we used 2 per serve, or $1.27 per serve

We used one kumato per serve or 58c

Eggless mayo add another 15c per serve

Lettuce adds 15c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.78 and was pretty good.

Dinner

Sunday night seems to be trending as “pot roast night.” Tonight a new recipe from Emeril, which features garlic, as you expect.

With the addition of a little horseradish and worcestershire to the blended ‘gravy’ elevated this to “really good.” Although Emeril says the dish serves six, we got three and a half generous serves, say three.

2.3 lb of Cross Rib Roast cost $21.37 or $7.12 per serve

A pack of six micro packs with 20 organic garlic cloves per pack cost $2.79, or 16c per serve

With four huge new gardens completed, it was time to choose some plants – cactus and other succulents – and, since the nursery is on the way back from The Country Deli, we stopped in there for lunch before getting to work.

Hearty lunches all round for $21.50 per serve, with tax and tip.

Dinner

We returned to the fish pie and took out another two serves at $4.47 each.

The bacon was $6.99 for 12 slices, and we used 2 per serve, or $1.27 per serve

We used one kumato per serve or 58c

Eggless mayo add another 15c per serve

Lettuce adds 15c per serve.

Lunch today cost $2.83 and was pretty good.

Dinner

Being fans of the Two Fat Ladies a natural choice was Jenifer’s Fish Pie, but with a few variations. We left out the shrimp and chose smoked salmon belly for a smoked fish, and cod for white fish. Instead of potato we used a cauliflower mash topping.

The recipe seems to make six serves.

The organic cauliflower was $5.17 (1.4 lb) or 86c per serve

For the firm fleshed fish, Greg used Kroger Wild Caught Pacific Cod. The 40 oz pack costs $16.89 but only 8 oz was used (two filets) or 56c a serve.

The smoked salmon belly was $7.99 or $1.33 per serve

The baby spinach cost $2.99 or 50c per serve

A red onion is 16c or 3c per serve

The half and half was $4.49 and 3/4 was used, or 75c per serve

Butter and seasonings add another 44c per serve.

Tonight’s dinner cost us $4.47 a serve. Since it lacks all structural integrity, it’s hard to understand why this is a “pie” when it’s more of a fish stew. We felt it could use a little more heat, like curry. Oh wait, that would be kedgeree!

We buy Prather Ranch meat because of the quality, no price so 12.8oz for $20.47 is definitely not the cheapest Rib Eye you can buy, but I doubt you’d find better meat for $10.24 per serve

A pastured egg is 50c or 25c per serve.

Seasonings ran about 45c per serve

An organic lettuce cost $1.99 or $1 a serve

Instead of croutons and cheese we used Trader Joe’s Oven Baked Cheese Bites which worked extremely well, for $1.25 per serve.

Tonight’s steakhouse quality meal was $13.19 per serve. The steak was exceptionally tender with a great beef flavor and the dressing is about the best Caesar salad dressing we’ve had, especially since we added a little more garlic than the recipe called for.